NASA’s Lunar Flashlight Mission Failed!

Towards the end of last year, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) made an important move regarding the Moon. The agency sent a spacecraft called “Lunar Flashlight” to the Moon on December 11, 2022. The purpose of this spacecraft, which is only the size of a briefcase, was to search for ice on the Moon’s South Pole. However, officials who made a statement on the subject announced that they could not achieve this goal. The Lunar Flashlight mission is officially over.

Lunar Flashlight was a small spacecraft in the cube satellite class. In other words, all the technologies he had were miniaturized. This was insufficient for the Lunar Flashlight to reach the Moon. In the statement made by NASA, it was stated that the propulsion system of the spacecraft was insufficient to enter lunar orbit.

Still, significant gains have been made!

Although the desired task could not be fulfilled with Lunar Flashlight, significant gains were achieved from this task. Above all else; The flight computer called “Sphinx” was used for the first time with this spacecraft. Designed in accordance with space conditions, this computer has proven that it can be used in the depths of space. In addition, Lunar Flashlight had a special system that allows vehicles in space to land on top of each other with sensitive navigation data. This system has also been successfully tested with Lunar Flashlight.

Not only these. Lunar Flashlight’s four-laser reflectometer, which will search for ice on the Moon, has proven to be reliable even with studies. So if scientists were able to put the Lunar Flashlight into lunar orbit, they would definitively tell if there was ice.

So what happened on the trip to the moon? Couldn’t NASA predict that the power would be insufficient?

According to calculations made by NASA, it was very possible for this spacecraft to reach the Moon. But somehow the fuel lines got clogged, which reduced performance in the Lunar Flashlight’s propulsion system, according to NASA. As a natural consequence of this, an energy gain that would enable the spacecraft to reach the Moon could not be achieved.

Lunar Flashlight returns to Earth!

Although the mission failed, NASA did not abandon the spacecraft to its fate. Scientists who made re-route calculations enabled the spacecraft to come towards Earth. In fact, according to estimates, this spacecraft will enter Earth orbit later in the day. NASA will send the Lunar Flashlight towards the Sun after the examinations to be made. Let’s see if the second mission of Lunar Flashlight can be successful…